PPCRV to Leyte candidates: ‘remain true to poll peace pact’

SAN MIGUEL, Leyte, March 14 (PNA) -– An official of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) has urged candidates to remain true to their commitment to attain clean, honest, accurate, meaningful and peaceful (CHAMP) elections on May 9, 2016.

Fr. Elmo Manching, head of the Roman Catholic’s Palo Arhdiocesan PPCRV, said the signing of peace covenants in different towns in Leyte, will set mode on how candidates would undertake the election process.

The PPCRV has joined the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army for the CHAMP campaign. One strategy is the conduct of peace covenant signing.

The citizen arm of the Archdiocese will submit reports to the Comelec on their observation on the process of election, from the way candidates are doing their campaign, to the actual events of Election Day.

Of the 44 towns and cities in Leyte, 40 areas have already conducted peace covenant signing for secure and peaceful election. The remaining are towns of Palompon, Hilongos, Bato and Mahaplag.

Latest is the town of San Miguel, Leyte, one of the areas in the province with intense political rivalries, not only between candidates, but supporters as well.

To ensure peaceful election, Manching has called for candidates to remind their supporters to remain calm throughout the campaign period to prevent violence.

He also called on candidates to abide the Comelec campaign rules and guidelines.

“I also hope that after election, whoever wins, they would be true to their promise to the people during the campaign,” Manching said.

The signing of peace covenant, according to Comelec Leyte provincial director Maria Corazon Montallana, bonded candidates to abide election laws, respect their fellow candidates and their voters.

But aside from candidates following elections laws, another important aspect of this election process is the cooperation and coordination of all election stakeholders.

“Our goal here is to ensure credible elections and to see to it that voting experience has improved,” Montallana said.

The Comelec has already sent PPCRV the list of voters, election officers and list of voting centers and their address as guide to PPCRV volunteers on Election Day, added Montallana. (PNA)
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